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Sunday, August 12, 2007

My little Italian adventure - Part 1: That salad

A conversation between my friend Jules and I a few weeks ago went like this:

Me: Hey Jules, you know that saladJulie: Which salad?Me: That salad with tomatoes, bocconcini, and basil in it.Julie: Oh.. "that salad"..Me: Yeah "that salad"Julie: What about it?Me: What's it called again?Julie: *pause* uh I don't know.. but it tastes good with lots of salt and pepper in it.. mmmm.Me: Thanks Jules, that was really helpful.

I was craving for "that salad" a few weekends ago and was hoping that Jules would know the name since I didn't. Then whilst was going through my Wednesday night routine of flipping through recipe books, I found "that salad" in my Simply Italian cookbook by Sophie Baimbridge. Friends, "that salad" now has a name, it is called "Insalata Caprese" or salad in the style of Capri, a little resort island close to Italy.

I can't believe I never thought of looking in that book! This salad is so easy to make and is so delicious that I had 2 helpings with lots of bocconcini and basil. I love the refreshing taste of the basil and the creamy taste of the bocconcini in this salad.

Here are the basic ingredients (and steps). In my little version above I went with some cherry truss and some green tomatoes because I couldn't find any decent plum or roma tomatoes. Knowing the amount of water tomatoes need to survive I can only assume that it is due to the current drought in my little state Victoria.

Drizzle with olive oil and finish with some sprinkling of salt and freshly grind pepper.

Oh incidentally, this is the start of a 3 post series on my little adventure in Italian cuisine. Whilst flicking through my Simply Italian cookbook I bookmarked two other recipes, one which I had never really tasted before and the other is one I had never attempted outside my Italian repertoire of Spaghetti Meatball (which I should post one day), Spaghetti Matriciana and Garlic Prawn pasta (also made with spaghetti). Stay tune.

Cindy: Hi Cindy. I got my green tomatoes from the green grocer in Glen Waverley. That's the first time I ever saw them Melbourne. But because they're so rare, a lot of them were sort of getting rotten because no one noticed them/bought them. I managed to pick two of them which were fairly decent.

The only other place I could think of is perhaps Prahran Market. They tend to have some special ingredients that's usually not found at other markets.

Kat: Hi Kat. It is quite refreshing with the basil. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

I love caprese! I make it often... especially during the hot winter months. I use large buffalo mozzarella, slice them, top with a slice of a vine ripened heirloom tomato, a whole basil leaf and drizzle a little balsamic and olive oil over the top. Because the large slice of fresh mozzarella acts like a little mini "dish", the whole thing can be picked up and munched on while mingling at cocktail parties. It's always a hit.

I can't believe I never used to eat tomatoes... and I do believe that this salad was instrumental in persuading me that they are actually not Satan's Own Vegetable ;-) The best thing about caprese is that it REALLY shows off good ingredients, so it's a fab excuse to buy stupidly expensive mozarella and plum tomatoes ;-)

Jeanne: I so agree with you on this. It really follows the KISS principle when it comes to good food with the best ingredients. I just can't believe it took me this long to find out the name of it. LOL